OverDrive - OverDrive - August 27, 2025 - Hour 1 - Chris Johnston

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jason Strudwick and Frank Corrado for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss Connor McDavid's comments on his future with the Oilers at the Hockey Canada camp, the next steps in Edmonton, the potential contract, how the Oilers can perform this season and NHL players in the Olympics. They also discuss Jeff Hoffman's rough day on the mound against Minnesota and TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston joins to discuss McDavid's unclear status, the contract path in Edmonton and the impact to the roster.

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Frankie Corrado, Jason Strudwick. What an afternoon we're about to have. What are we doing here? Why are we all wearing, like, Hays and I are both wearing black t-shirts and Struddy's got some kind of like zip-up black quarter-zip? What is going on here? Why not? Why not?

Styles. We got style. Eli Manning's special, right? You get the quarter-zip. That's what the Manning's wear. I'm a big fan of Eli. Obviously, you guys, I'm not sure which teams you cheer for, but those championship pedigree, it works, right? I'm trying to follow those guys.

You're not wearing khakis, though. There's zero percent chance you have khakis on under that quarter-zip. There is some kind of, like, loose shorts or maybe even boxers at most right now. You can. I don't get the khakis. I don't get it, man. Like, if you're into khakis, I get it, but I just don't see it. I don't, pleats, I guess, hazy private, some of that nice pleats on them still.

Whatever works for you. I'm not a huge khaki guy either. I did make, I had the luxury of meeting Jack Nicholas about a year ago, a year and a half ago. It was really, really great night. It was really exciting. And I stepped out of my, I don't know why I thought khakis were the play. Like, I wasn't myself. You know, I'm like, I got to impress Jack Nicholas, and he's probably.

probably going to be in cackies. I don't know where. My head was spinning. Cackies. Yeah, I got to a place where I'm like, I'm going cackies. And they were the wrong cackies. It was a bad look. I made an awful call at a yellow tie because he, you know, I figured he appreciate yellow. And it was just one of the bigger mistakes I've ever made my life. So you're telling me, you saw you met Jack Nicholas and you went cackies and a yellow tie. I don't care what else you're wearing, there's nothing that could salvish that. It was an absolutely horrible decision across the board. I overthought it because I don't really think or care about anything, you know, quite

frankly. Like, I'm very lucky. I try to wear, you know, the best clothes I can. I try to look as good as I can. I get it. We're on TV. You know, we do have an image to consider here. But in terms of like going to events or whatever, just try to look proper, try to look clean

and go. You know, I don't really put any thought in. to any of that kind of stuff i'm not an overly stylish guy this was like i couldn't stop thinking about i'm going to meet the the golden bear like i'm going to meet jack nicholas what's this what are what am i supposed to wear like this overlaughted completely and i twisted my little peanut of a brain into a position where i thought khakis and a yellow tie i don't know i don't know what i was thinking yeah it's it's tough man i ruined the evening it was a lovely evening otherwise You were thinking about what would Jack want to see for me?

What you weren't thinking is, what are the power rankings of pants? Because if you were doing that, what's your first overall pick when it comes to pants? You're Connor McDavid. It's like a nice gene that's kind of tight but has the stretchy material. Right. On the darker side. Yeah, on the darker side, or it's like the Lulu Lemon pants that look good. You can wear them with a suit if you really wanted to.

like those are your two options but you kind of went to like the fifth overall pick oh you kind of it was it was an absolute butchering it was it was the the alex dag of picks you know like i just anyone else have the same gear everyone else steal your luck like like you know guys in their 80s and stuff that was another thing i was like the youngest guy there they're like look at this loser you know like old guys who are steed jack sandy lyle exactly there i am like the dockers khakis me jack and sandy and then everyone else is like what's what these what a loser so anyway i try to avoid the khakis as much as i can the quarter zip is big love a quarter zip i have a million of them the peter milar quarter zips are the best things going i will wear them consistently

throughout the fall and into the winter when i'm not wearing suits and i should have just worn a suit it would have been more reasonable to just wear a complete suit you know like it would have been like that's a good look better than a khaki a bad bad khaki, too. Like, brutal, brutal khaki. No, man. If you're going to do a khaki, it's got to be super kind of like modern and trendy. And I don't think you, like, you don't just pull that out of a drawer.

No, you're right. If you're a guy that's not khaki guy. Like, if you're a khaki guy, you have, like, the new one that's, like, nice, tight and tapered. You don't just have it, though. That's a destination piece. You had to acquire that, like, for a specific purpose. You're right. And, like, khakis, that used to be the look for hockey guys.

right all three of us were all of a different age but kind of a similar generation where that was the play when you're a kid right you'd go khakis with a tucked in golf shirt and you look good you get the new haircut and maybe the owner of the team was there or whatever and when they'd show up i'm sure back in 98 for the 98 olympics they met in 90 you know the summer 98 or summer of 97 i'm sure they were wearing khakis and golf shirts it doesn't appear as if that's what they're wearing today they're all out i believe in calgary right is where the orientation camp is going on the men's that's out west that's out west canada yeah it's somewhere it's west of missusagas so i don't know exactly where it is but it's west of mississauga somewhere uh could be in london ontario windsor it could be in saskatchew it could be in calgary who knows um but they look good they got the quarter zips going out there with the canada emblem the hockey canada emblem and macdavid's up there and we have to start with this strud because this is perfect timing for you to be here i appreciate that the media they open it up to the media and they just start rifling 100 miles an hour on the block at him about his contract and whether or not

he's going to sign and how he's going to handle it. And here's what Connor McDavid said earlier this afternoon. Connor, we'll talk lots of Olympics, but do you want to get to the contract situation. Maybe just give us a sense of where things sit right now, how you feel about what Stan is done. And, you know, if you're optimistic that a deal will get done before the season starts. Uh, yeah, not even a softball Olympic question for me to start, huh? But that's okay. Um, right into it.

Yeah, no. Um, you know, I said at the end of June, you know, I had every intention just to take my time with it, and I still feel the same way. Um, take my time and, uh, and go through everything. And, you know, I have every intention to, to win in Eminton. That's my only focus. All right, strud. Take it from there.

What do you make of that? comment from Conner McDavid. First off, that was my boy, Ryan Roshag. Welcome back, Connor. It's great to see you. Are you going to sign? Like, right at him. And I love it. He's going down there with an agenda. Me too. I love it. Got the question there. You know, Connor's been very consistent in the way he's approached this negotiation.

He's said, you know, he likes in Emerton. He's talking about taking the time. He's something, but his priority is winning. So I don't think there's really a lot to really maybe, you know, try to read between the lines here on. I like that he said my only focus is to win in Edmonton. Now, some people might interpret they've got to win this year or he's gone. Or if he do win this year, maybe he's gone. I think others might look at it and say, well, he wants to win in Edmonton.

That might take more than just this year. It might take longer than that. So I don't think he's been obviously coached or thought of his responses to these situations because he's been very consistent there, Frankie. Yeah. Listen, I don't know what more he was supposed to say, right? He knows the question's coming. He knows that it's going to probably keep coming,

especially if this is something that persists into training camp. And ultimately, like, the answer can change very quickly. The answer changes as soon as Connor McDavid picks up the phone and says, guys, this is what I want to do. Because there's really how much of a negotiation can there possibly be? It's like, this is what Connor wants to do. So you guys, we've got to do it or we don't. And that's what the Edmonton Oilers will ultimately do.

I don't know. Like, there's really not much more that you could expect him to kind of outline in detail in a situation like this. Here's the thing. In terms of leverage, I think you bring up an interesting, a very valid point and an important point that we all know. It's common knowledge. All of the leverage is in the side of Connor McDavid. Like, he will determine what's going to happen here. Within reason, you know, the other side's, if he comes with him and goes, I want 20% of the cap on a one-year deal or something.

They may push back and say that's not reasonable, but I think both parties are going to be reasonable. but clearly Edmonton will do whatever they can to make him happy and whatever they can to keep him throughout his career. I mean, I think we all know that. So with that being the case, the floor is available to him to say anything he wants, and he's not going to lose leverage. In other words, if he showed up and said, I'm not worried about it, I'm going to retire an oiler, we'll figure it out.

They're not picking up the phone, and Edmonton said, oh, this is great, we're going to lowball you now because you said you're going to stay here throughout your career. So the door was open for him to say, anything this is clearly planned it was clearly schooled and coached and he said i have every intention to win in edmonton that that does not that that isn't i'm going to be here forever that's not going to be i'm staying until we win like that to me sounds a little bit different than maybe what i would want to hear if i'm in edmonton but what i do appreciate and i hope

this is what he's thinking is he's going to keep putting pressure on the team to make sure that they put them in a position to win. Like, that's kind of, that would be the message I would get. And I'm sure Jeff Jackson knows that. Stan Bowman knows that. But last time I checked, their goalies are still Skinnered and Pickard, right? Like, I don't think they've changed their goaltetting. They haven't done a ton this offseason.

They've lost some guys, but they haven't done a ton strutty. You can speak to it better than I can in terms of the mood there in terms of what they've done to put themselves in a better position. Albeit, they've been in a back-to-back cup finals. We're not talking about a team with 85 points that just wants to make the playoffs. We're talking the thinnest margin that they need to improve upon. But the door was available and opened from the walkthrough and say, I'm an oiler, I'm not going anywhere, we'll figure it out.

He did not say that. And that doesn't mean he's leaving, but it does possibly mean he's playing a game here, which I think is reasonable for him to play. Keep putting pressure on them. You better help me win. And if you don't, there's no guarantees I'll be here forever. No, and I agree with that. And I think that that's, you know, when you're a lead player.

And, you know, we went through the top seven, was a seven, eight centers a couple days ago that was released by various members of the media and outlets. And everyone in that, the top of the list had a Stanley Cup except for Connor, Leon, and Austin Matthews. Now, Austin, I don't have him quite in that, you know, and this is trying to beat him up. But he hasn't been close. Like, so, again, that's not a shot. It's just trying to lay it out here is that those other two guys have been really close, but they don't have that cup yet. So for them, it's really, really important. But if you go back and listen to when Leon Drysiddle was in the same situation,

a year away from becoming an unrestricted for agent, he sang from the same hymn book, right? He said a lot of same things. You know, I've got to do some research. I've got to figure what I want to do. I'll talk to my family. And there's no guarantees. And then once he signed, I never wanted to leave.

This is my favorite place. And so I think that these guys, I don't think you want to tip one way or another, which way you go. And I think everyone agrees that he will sign. he being Connor McDavid will sign an extension now you know eight years four years two years I can't tell I'm not that would be a question for Darren Drager and CJ and guys like that but I think that for him he's trying to just be consistent with his messaging knowing that everyone's going to try to you know figure out everything he says and right that the thing for the orders we look at their offseason

I think that their D is better today than it was to start the last season with with Walman I think a healthy um you know some of that guys being healthy but the question are some of the guys like Trent Frederick, Isaac Howard, and Matt Savoy. If those, if two of those three guys, now Trent's, I think he's going to be better because of the entry. Trent's playing. He's signed, right? He's not going anywhere. And I think he'll be a better version of himself. But, Frankie, if one of those two guys, Howard or Savoy, can become a regular in this

lineup, that'll be huge. Doesn't mean they both want eventually, but young players, it's tough short term to say, yep, these two guys are in there and you're going to score 20 goals. But if one of them can be a regular, now I think he might have. Because Kane wasn't with them all year last year, guys. Keep that in mind. He didn't play the whole year. Cory Perry, he was great. He was so good.

But $3 million, that's a hard one to sell, right? It's hard to bring that back. So there's a lot of, I think the team is different. But still this, the centers are still there. The D are great. And now the goalies have a different goalie coach, which I think goalie can make a difference. That's the one thing. If you're McDavid and you're looking at the same two goalies,

I'm surprised by that straightie. I'll be honest. Based on what Bowman said at the end of the year, he said, I'm pretty sure he said there needs to be change in that position, if I recall correctly. Now, maybe he would indicate that that has happened because they have a new goaltending coach, but that would seem somewhat misleading. I mean, the idea that Skinner and Pickard are going to get another kick at the can.

I get it. They've been a cup finals two years in a row. I get it. But I don't know how much confidence these guys are going to have in them for another 82-game grind, let alone in playoffs. In a world where, if you looked at the goaltending landscape, and I don't agree with this, but maybe this is what they'd be thinking, the moves that we could have made at the goaltending position don't significantly help us because there's warts with other guys that maybe we could have acquired. Like John Gibson goes to Detroit. He's had health issues and his numbers haven't been what they should have been for the last like six years, call it, right?

So you look at it and you say, okay, let's do the goaltending coach first. and then if that doesn't work, then we have no other choice. There's no other stone left unturned here when it comes to this position. Then we have to make a move. The thing about McDavid, though, saying about winning in Edmonton, if you looked at, you know, let's use the Tavares example on the island, I don't remember him ever saying, I want to win in Long Island. It was always, I want to be here.

I want to be here. And then all of a sudden, when you weren't there, it was like, well, what happened? Why'd you flip it? You never wanted to be anything other than an Islander. I think with McDavid saying, like, I want to win here, it opens the door for, like, the team didn't really position us well to win in the long term. It was like, let's throw some players at this thing every year and see what happens. And I think, to Struddy's point, about the young guys now, whether it's Maddie Savoy or Ike Howard,

like this is going to be that next crop of young guys that come up and be a part of this core thing where I don't think they had that last year. I think last year they just signed Arvidson and they had Perry and they brought in pod coals and it's just like, here you go. A bunch of guys, see if it works. Where now they're going to try and cultivate this thing and

bring it up so these guys can really stick together and that's probably what they'd look at and say this is what Connor wants to see. We're building something for now but also for the future that he and all these players can attach themselves to. Yeah. It's

It's not going to stop between now and opening night, right? Like, unless he signs, once that happens, then it's going to quiet down. But that's Rashog. He's waiting for him. They want to camp. Yeah, my dog, Rashog, baby. But I think, guys, let's be honest. In the hockey world, that's the biggest story of hanging around right now.

With all due respect to Luke Hughes, you know, in New Jersey or some of these other guys that haven't signed, like, this is the story. If he says, I'm not signing. Well, that's a massive story. If he does sign, that's a massive story as well. um for him but you know when i and i love what you said there frank about the the younger players like i'm looking at a player like of um oh man paul colson you know i think paul golden i think he's a 20 goal score i really do think he can find that this year um you know he was he had lots of chance

to score didn't quite get it done i hope he went spent time with connor or leon or you know someone to work on his finishing because he gets himself there and that's a guy that can grow so if you can get growth from him Trent frederick one of the two we mentioned before you know now Well, maybe you got something that can replace some of the guys that were left for various reasons. Right. And, yeah, Kane was there for the cup runs. Perry was there. Connor was there.

Connor, he's hard to replace. He's a guy that's left town. He's a good player. Yeah. So, you know, and those are veterans that, you know, they're going to try to turn things over. And that's the ebbs and flows. Like, Cid's up there. Crosby's up there talking.

And Cid's had how many different teammates in 20 years, you know, and he had different ebbs and flows of his career. Yes, he's had Malkin. in the tang with him the whole time, and he had flurry with him for a large portion of his career. But everyone else is kind of come and gone. And that's the nature of a core that sticks around, that's winning, that, you know, knows how to win and knows how to play together. So, yeah, day one of the orientation camp, though, it's exciting. Like, it's exciting that the Olympic Games are here.

The Americans are doing their thing as well. And, you know, I think we're going to talk a lot about it, clearly, between now and February and whenever the rest of the team is officially. officially announced, but it's going to be a big year for McDavid because this is a platform season for him to go and represent his country at the Olympic Games, something he has not been able to do. Same thing with Matthews, same thing with Eichol, same thing with McKinnon, you know, Kail McCarr, like these great, great players, dry-settle, right? Like these great, great players who will be able to go to the Olympics and represent their

countries, we haven't had this in 12 years. and outside of the, you know, the SIDS and maybe the Doughties and, you know, maybe a couple of other players scattered throughout some other teams, it's going to be completely fresh new blood at the Olympic Games. Yeah. And it's pretty cool. Including them talking about Sellebrini today and the fact that he was invited out there.

The kid's 19, you know. 19, but deserving of being there. And you don't think all that time that Sellebrini spent with Sid at the men's worlds. Like, that doesn't do him a lot of favors there. Like, even for this season. Going in and playing in San Jose. Like, once upon a time, Sid played on a really bad Pittsburgh Penguins team. And then in the not-so-distant future, they were really good.

And that'll be the goal and the objective for Macklin-Cellebrini. But, like, this year with the condensed schedule and leading into the Olympics, I just wonder if there's going to be some, like, weird stuff that happens with, like, load management and guys dealing with injuries and trying to make sure that, yeah, I got to miss five games over the course of the next two weeks because I need to be ready for the Olympics, right? Like that, I think that stuff is very possibly going to happen this year. And there's a lot of games coming in a short period of time. But guys, like, Hayes, guys don't want to miss this.

Well, it's been so long. Like, Sid's a great example. Pittsburgh, you know, presuming they show up and they say all the same cliches that every team does, we're here to compete and we think we can win. And maybe they believe it, maybe they don't. But, you know, I think it's very likely by the time you get to the New Year, Pittsburgh's way out of it and they know they're out of it and, you know, Dubus and company, I understand that, and they're going to adjust on the fly, and this will be it for Malkin

and Latang and they'll figure out what they're going to do with Sid. But let's say there's somewhat in the hunt. They need Sid to play every night in order for them to stay in the hunt and possibly punch that ticket where he's, remember, I believe leading up to the Four Nations, he was banged up. Remember he was injured? He was not playing for Pittsburgh. And all of a sudden he gets to the Four Nations and he's activated by Canada. He starts playing for the Canadian team, not playing for his club team.

How's that going to work for the Olympic Games, where it's even more amplified, even more important? I don't know. You know, like you'd like to believe the best teams, like in Edmonton, has enough buffer where if McDavid needs a night off that he'd probably take anyway, okay, go ahead. You know, hopefully you can kind of cross T's and dot eyes at the same time and make sure you're okay for Canada and your club team.

But it's a difficult juggling act for guys when, Not everyone can be on the best team. You know, some teams are bubble teams, and they've got to play every single night for their club team. They can't load manage and prepare for the Olympics. But I don't think we've seen this much load management in the NHL. Like, I don't think we're quite at basketball, because I don't think the culture in hockey is one that I'm going to take this off because I'm not feeling 100%. Like, I think if you can play, guys play. Now, we might move away from that, and we saw with Florida and Eminton towards the end of their season, they valued health with a lot of their players.

And those guys, I believe they were hurt. I'm not suggesting they were tired. But, you know, they made sure that they got healthy rather than prioritized finishing a certain place in the standings. So I don't know. I don't know. Like, do you see Sidney Cross, you take in a week off? I just think the Olympics are different strut, like in terms of preparing for it.

Now, some of it's extreme. I'll give you an example. Again, this was a legitimate injury and this was a legitimate rehab. But back in, I think it was 2010, it might have been 14. I think it was 10. Ryan Getslav had like a high ankle sprain or something. I know this really well. Yes.

His last game before the Olympics was against us, the Oilers. And he came back and he was like, everyone's talking about. What's he going to look like? They're here to watch him. I remember thinking this guy, he's probably not going to do much. He only banged in four points that night. Which is wild. It was insane.

And his ankle was not right. I know he wasn't right. And he came and played. That was crazy. And I think the reason he played was to prove to Canada, I'm right. 100%. So that's what I'm saying. It wasn't about the ducks.

Like, I've got to help the ducks. He's like, I'm playing so that Canada knows, and Steve Eisenman knows, I can be there in Vancouver. You know where I think it's different where, you know, if you compare it to basketball, where load management is like this planned out thing almost, if a hockey player shows up to the arena and it's like, I got a little like just groin tightness today, you're playing. But if you're coming off a torn adductor and you're still dealing with the after effects of that, chances are, like with something around the corner, you might take a couple days off here and there, manage it as best you can

to make sure that you're peeking at the right time. That's where I think it's different than basketball. You're not just showing up in the trainer's room and saying, calf tightness can't go tonight. No, no, no, calf tightness, you're going tonight. Totally. That's the difference. But what, like, Sid's a different animal and he's wired differently,

and he's a freak of nature in terms of his competitive, you know, nature and the way that he's wired. but let's say Pittsburgh's the worst team in the league, which I don't think is out of the realm of possibility. I don't think they will be. I think San Jose, Chicago, I think I could give you a handful of teams that I think are worse. But let's say they are. Let's say it's January 1st.

They're dead last. Do you think he starts, you know, do you think Pittsburgh and Sid, they take an eye at the Olympics and they're like, okay, how are you going to play this out? Or does he keep playing 22 minutes a night? Like, that's what I'm curious about. I know that's a hypothetical, but. Yeah, I hear you.

Like, maybe is it, hey, let's play him 18. Like, the season's done, we stink, we're awful. He wants to play in the Olympic game. That's the only thing he's playing for right now. I don't know. He may not want to. He might be like, you know what, just playing me 22 minutes a night because I feel like that's the best way that I'll be prepared or in shape for the Olympics.

And, guys, what's his track record? Has Sidney Craves ever taken the easy way? Like, the easy road? Not generally, no. I can only go off his track record. And yeah, he's getting older. I think that you are what you are. He's wired that way.

He's just like, I think I can help this team win, and we're going to win. And you know, well, and he can debate whether we think him being in Pittsburgh at this point is good for him or the career or even the team, I guess. But I don't know. I just think that it's Sidney Cross. I've never seen him do anything easy way. So why would he start now? No, and that's why he is who he is.

And that's the truth. For sure. Why he's still going to the Olympics is a prominent player, you know, because he's still great. And he's still wired that way. Jay's had a rough ninth inning last night. Very rough. Jeff Hoffman in particular,

but Varland wasn't much better. Their bullpen is a disaster right now, and it got them last night. Eric Lauer on the Mount tonight, big, big start for him to try to figure out exactly what he's going to do the rest of the way. Dallas Braden coming up in just over half an hour

on what the Jays do with this bullpen. They got just over a month to figure it out. That more coming up with Dallas. We've got role play level of concern coming up. Chris Johnson is in Calgary, so he's there at the orientation camp. We'll catch up with CJ this hour. Overdrive continues.

TSN 1050 and on TSN2. Overdrive continues, powered by Fanduel, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hayes, Frankie Corrado, Jason Struddlekin here. We've got CJ coming up. Chris Johnston. We'll join us here in a few moments. Jay's back in action tonight. Sounds as if Alejandro Kirk had an x-ray on his hand.

Last night came back negative. He's going to be okay. I have not seen the lineup for tonight, but I'm assuming Heineman will be in the lineup tonight. Ernie Clement, a little banged up, a little banged up, going to be day-to-day, not going on the IL right now, but will not be playing this evening. And again, the Js are back in action tonight. And it sounds as if Schneider's telling the media down at the dome

that they're going to push Barrios' next start back. So he will not be pitching. Obviously, tonight Lauer's going. They're off tomorrow, then they've got three against Milwaukee, and Burrios will not be a part of that three-man rotation against the Milwaukee Brewers. So they're trying to give him a bit of a breather And let them build up

It's been a real struggle for him lately And Milwaukee's the best team in baseball right now So you've got to have your ace stuff Listen, that's okay for Perios If at some point They were going to implement a six-man rotation That was the guy that you wanted getting an extra day off There's no issues there

The bullpen and the closer situation Is not good right now No, it's not good There's not a lot of confidence When Hoffman is coming out there yeah last night i mean he uh he just gets rocked he's given up 12 home runs and for a closer that's your kryptonite if you're if you're if teams are waiting on pitches and just demolishing you and that's what happened last night demolished like no doubters that home run

the first pitch goes into the dirt and you're you're watching it you're like well the guy like this is the guy struggling with locating it it's coming right down the middle and it might not be as fast as it's supposed to be. He's sitting there. He's waiting for it, and he knows it's coming. How is Hoffman supposed to even defend against that? Well, I mean, 95 down the middle of the plate is an issue, clearly. But you're right.

I mean, he's lacking confidence. He's had real issue. He's not alone. Varland struggles to throw strikes right now. Dominguez is wild. You know, he throws heat, but he doesn't seem to know where it's going all the time, which is a concern. You know, Garcia is still injured.

I don't think he's coming back. Little has had a very good year, very, very good year. But, you know, he's starting to teeter a little bit too in the last month, month and a half. And it's a real issue. Like the rotation is set. Look what they've set up here against Milwaukee. Game one Friday night, Shane Beaver. Game two, Kevin Gosman, game three, Max Scherzer.

That's probably your one, two, three, in the playoffs. Like, this is probably them tipping their hand at what's going to happen come to playoffs. And they're still in the driver's seat pretty comfortably to finish as a top two seat in the American League. them and the Tigers, but last night you've got that game. Like, you've got that game. All you need is Hoffman to come in, give you three outs, and you're clear, and it gets away from him, and it's not only him. If it was one guy issue, you can't rectify it now, your post-trade deadline, but it's

not him. Like, they're all leaking oil in the bullpen, and they've got five weeks to figure it out, because, and that's a lot of time. They still can. I'm not completely panicking yet, but if this continues for another two or three weeks, I don't know how you win a World Series if that's what their ambition is with a bullpen that can't be relied upon. In fact, I find it impossible, to be clear. So, yeah, we'll get into that with Dallas Braden in about a half an hour.

But the Team Canada orientation camp is open out in Calgary and McDavid's there and Sid's there. Mitch Marner's there talking about Easton Cowan for some reason. I'm not quite certain where that came from. But to get you an update, we'll go live to the scene. Here's our TSN Hockey Insider, Chris Johnston. C.J. What's going on there with Mitch Mariner pumping the tires of Easton-Cowen for some reason today? What was that all about? I have no idea. I wasn't actually in its scrum because he had to kind of pick and choose.

So I don't know where that came from, but I guess we're still in silly season, right? We're all looking for different content. I guess so, yeah, because like with Mitch, I don't know. Like, where do we go with Mitch here? Is it? Leaves, leaves, leaves for what? two, three, four years until we finally move past that story? Or like, how do you see the Mitch Marner

we got to talk to him about his exit in Toronto story playing out here and how many, how you know, long are the legs that are left in that story? Well, I'd say there at least, you know, six, eight months. I mean, until he comes back and plays a game in Toronto, I think

it will be of interest. And, you know, to be honest, the one thing I've never yet heard, and I admittedly might have missed it because over the summer I've been lucky to not been to, you know, as dialed in as usual, but, you know, I haven't heard him really explain why he left Toronto. And, you know, I think we can all deduce reasons and, you know, come to our own conclusions about why that might be and even make sense of it. But, you know, I haven't really heard him dig into that. And I suspect he will between, you know, his time here

in front of the media, you've got some, you know, NHL media tours coming up and then just the start of training camps. I mean, someone's going to get in front of him and, you know, ask some of those questions. But, you know, I think that that, I'll be curious to hear what he says there. And then, you know, over time, as lots of players move on from their teams, you know, it does fade a little more into the background. But, you know, certainly for this first season where he's in Vegas, I think it's always going to be, you know, something where people are looking in on how he's doing, you know,

wondering how the move's going, wondering how the leaps are faring without him. And, you know, ultimately they're going to have to face each other on the ice, too. Do you think, CJ, like, as these questions keep getting asked to Mitch Marner and it's about Toronto. Do you think eventually it just kind of fades away and we forget about it? Or does there come this one time or this one story where, you know, someone's going to be a little passive aggressive or sling a little something at them? And, you know, it's like, oh, those guys were teammates, but that's the actual story

and that's how, you know, things kind of left off. Or does it just, you know, does it go away and we never really think about it in that way? Yeah, you know, it probably depends on how much life, you know, the story gets from, you know, as you're sort of saying there, Frankie, like other people, if a player says something, if, you know, the GM, you know, like those sorts of things that can probably extend the story, you know, the other thing that I could see, you know, potentially bringing it back in the spotlight, and this is, admittedly seems like a long shot as we're talking at the end of August, but if you get a Leafs in Vegas top

final at some point and, you know, Mitch Marner's coming back to Toronto in that kind of circumstance, obviously it would be a huge focal point. But, you know, for the most part, once they get through the first, you know, milestones of this season, I do. think it'll be, you know, in the background and not as top of mind, but, you know, some of this will be dependent on what's said and how the teams do. I mean, if the Leafs, you know, have a monster hole in their lineup and they can't fill it, you know, might lead people to focus on it more. And yet, you know, the flip side of that point is if things go well this season and they move on, you know, it might not be as it's front and center. So it's hard to say

for sure here right now. But needless to say, this still has some leg. on it for the immediate future, and I would suspect even tomorrow, when Mitch is speaking to the media, there's going to be more quotes coming out. So, CJ, what's kind of on the agenda? What is the goal of bringing everyone together in Calgary with no ice times, I should say? You know, it's kind of an interesting camp. I think the fact that three teams are all here, the Paralympic team, the women's team, and the men's team together, that's the first time for that, and, you know, it creates sort

of a unique atmosphere. And, you know, from the men side of things, you know, where I think they landed is they're focusing as much on sort of off-ights camaraderie, prioritizing that here at the end of August over anything that might be accomplished on ice. And, you know, I think that makes a whole lot of sense. I mean, a good chunk of this team that ultimately becomes the Olympic team that goes to Milan obviously played together to four nations. I don't think it will be a surprise to see, you know, a healthy percentage of that team

return, you know, as the Olympic team this year. but, you know, other than Cindy Crosby and perhaps through Gowdy, and it's going to be a first Olympics for every other player on the event's team. And the Olympics is a different animal. It's a different beast than even what they faced last year in the four nations. And so, you know, I think that they sort of looked at this period in time, and I'm sure there's, you know, insurance type of complications and everything, but, you know, decided who cares about a practice, you know,

they're out golfing a lot of them today, you know, obviously doing, you know, team building type of events, you know, in the evenings and dinners and things like that. And for the men's team, this will be the last time. Any group of them will be together in big numbers until they get to Italy and, you know, three days before the games begin in February. So, you know, as much as, you know, it might look, you know, like a little bit, who cares what they're doing.

I mean, because I get it. It's not high drama happening here. We're not seeing, you know, forward lines and defense parings and able to make sort of determinations on where the roster is going to sit today. you know, I do think that it's an important time for them to get together and, you know, just try to build up some camaraderie because, you know, that Olympic tournament will play out pretty quickly once they gets to come along a few months down the road here. With Chris Johnston. So Connor McDavid says, quote, he has every intention of winning in Edmonton, end quote. How do you process that quote? Well, I take about his word. You know, I think that that's something, obviously, it's, been his intention for 10 seasons in the

NHL or 11 seasons, whatever it's been. And, you know, he's sort of saying nothing's changed. He's under contract this year with the Oilers, no matter how talks go or what he decides with his extension. But, you know, the other thing he said today that I think was pretty notable is that

it's basically, it's not his preference to have a deal done by the start of the season. It's the first time, you know, publicly, and you know, we're getting a little closer to the start of the year where he said something like that in public. And, and and it's hard not to sort of perk up and take notice of that fact. I don't think anyone should get too carried away

and use it as a predictor of how this is going to go on because, you know, obviously there's just a huge amount of time between today and July 1st, 2026, when Connor could potentially become an unrestricted free agent. You know, I've got no reason to believe he's, you know, trying to figure a way out of Edmonton, but he's obviously not in a position where, you know, he's comfortable signing an extension with the Oilers.

And this is a massive deal for him at a massive point in his career. I mean, this guy's 28, turning 29 in January, and, you know, he's led the playoffs three of the last four years in playoff scoring. I mean, you know, obviously he's come into the final series the last two years with the Oilers losing to Florida in the final. He's done almost all you can do without winning a Stanley Cup. And, you know, I think that it's of utmost importance to him that he's got a chance to not only try to win one cup, but multiple cups here as he enters kind of what I'll, look at as the second phase of his career and it gets closer to age 30. So, you know, he's got a big decision in front of him. You know, I do think all things being equally, I'd love to remain with the Oilers,

but, you know, beyond this season, there's some question marks about what their team's going to look like or, you know, as with a lot of teams, they've just got, you know, UFAs and other unknowns. And, you know, he, at least today, to me, open up the possibility that he's going to take more time before deciding if he signs that extension in Edmonton. it's not necessarily something we should expect to happen here in the next two or three weeks. How big of a distraction could that be for the Edmonton Oilers this year, if that's something that, you know, goes into the regular season?

Connor McDavid, playing without a contract extension. Does that become a dark cloud or has that become one of those things where he addresses it once? And then everyone just kind of respects that and moves past it. You know, it's a great unknown for me. I mean, we know being on our side of the microphone now that obviously it's something, And if he doesn't sign that extension, once camp opens, once regular season opens, and we're going to discuss it. We'll be kicking around on overdrive every second day.

There'll be questions naturally when he does have to do some of those media scrums and things like that. But, you know, I don't know to what degree, if any, it would impact his teammates. I mean, it's a hard one for me to kind of evaluate. I think it's probably on some level difficult for Connor to evaluate. And, you know, it was, you know, something else he mentioned today. So we don't need any more distractions. You know, he wants to make sure the team, as they look to get over the hump and, you know, win one more playoff round and they've been able to the last two years, that he's not doing anything to take away from that with potentially having this as an unknown. So, you know, I would say it would be sort of a brave new world if we got into that.

You know, there's been other great players, including Mitch Varner last season, you know, obviously went all the way to free agency and, you know, I ended up in Vegas. But, you know, there's only one Connor McDavid. There's only one player of his stature in the league. now. And, you know, I think that that brings with it some, you know, there's going to be naturally some attention there. But I don't know if it's going to, you know, if it would become something that bothers the oilers day in and day out or not. And so, you know, I, I think that's why this will be an incremental day-by-day kind of story if we get into September or October and he hasn't actually signed that deal. If he truly does still need more time, you know,

we won't have any equivalent to this, really. I don't think that, you know, we have to, you haven't had a generational player in any, anywhere in recent memory, potentially even think about free agency. As I mentioned, I don't want to go too far down that road because I think there's a lot still to play out here, but, you know, it becomes more and more possible, I suppose, the longer we go without him signing another contract. See, Jim, you look back on Mish Martyr's situation, even Stephen Stamco's, even, you know, when John Tavares left the Islanders, were there pressure points that you

felt or saw over any of those? Because Stamco's ultimately did sign, and I'm talking about the one of his last contract, with Tampa. But were there any pressure points in there we look back and thinking, man, this was one where once they got past that, maybe there was kind of no coming back from it. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. You know, with Martin, he had control, right? He had a no movement clause.

We know now and reported on a little bit of the time that the Leafs at a certain point when they felt he wasn't coming back, look to trade him. You know, that didn't exist in the other two cases. You know, with the Islanders, Tavares, you know, negotiated with them really right into May and perhaps even June, but, you know, they were an option for him. And I think he felt he got so far that he wanted to look at life somewhere else. And it was a unique opportunity for him. You know, Samco's, I don't think he ever truly wanted to leave. I'm talking about that first free agency window. You know, that was back in the days when you could go talk to other

teams. There was that interview period they called it. And, you know, he sort of peeked behind that curtain, but ultimately, you know, staying in Tampa. So I think each situation is, you know, is kind of its own making. You know, we're at kind of a, to me, a really interesting shifting time in the league with a cap starting to really jump now. And I don't mean to suggest this as in any way about money. But, you know, I think we're going to see some shifting dynamics about which teams are kind of the power teams, you know, what players decide to do with their futures.

It's only natural under this new CBA that I think we'll see some shifts there. And, you know, if you're in Conor McDavid's position, I can understand that you would want to at least try to get your mind around all that and try to ensure you're in a spot where you really do have a chance to win the cup because I think the worst possible outcome for him or any one of his stature is, you know, signing an extension and two or three years down the road, you're looking at a roster that just doesn't have a chance to win. You're kind of locked in there. I mean, in some ways, that's where Sidney Crosby's found himself the last number of years

in Pittsburgh, but obviously the consolation, the asterisk there is he's won three cups with the penguins. You know, that's not something Connor's had a chance to do at Edmondton. And so it might be a little more easy or more comfortable to stay in one spot where you've at least won and you know, wait through and try to

see through to the next chance to win. I mean, I think with Connor McDavid, there's just no question. His focus is at another level already. I think he's putting absolutely every ounce of his effort and thought into trying to win a cup right now. He's at that point.

his career where it's the only thing, you know, truly missing from his mantle. So, you know, I don't know how much we can learn from the past just because this would be truly unique. And I got to tell you, I came away this morning, this afternoon here in Calgary thinking, man, he might actually play this out a little longer and see how it goes. And, you know, I started thinking myself, I mean, how's this going to be covered? What's it going to look like around the league? And I'm not sure we've seen anything quite like it.

If that's indeed how things go down. All right. we'll leave it there. Camp's opening up in a few weeks. The orientation camp off and running out in Calgary. Hockey's in the air. It's a beautiful thing. Thank you for this. Right on, guys. Take care. Chris Johnson, Artisan Hockey Insider. Yeah, I've said it before that no one in North American sports needs a championship more than him because he's just in such a small group, like not even within his own sport. He's in a

category with like Patrick Mahomes and Scotty Sheffler and Shohei Otani and you know Yonick Sinner you know like that's where he is those guys have all they've all won you know Aaron Judge is the only guy that's

probably in that category that hasn't it's him and McDavid so yeah I mean he's he's probably obsessed with it as he should be yet it's a team sport and you got to reset every single year and start the climb again it's tough

It's a team sport, and maybe this is our fault. Maybe we, like, over-romanticize about how good he is. But he truly is the best player. And you've got to think, like, man, this guy's been to two Stanley Cup finals in a row. And did he have that game where it was like, this is the McDavid game, where he just goes off and is unstoppable. But that's the buzz saw that you go up against in the Florida Panthers. It's, you know, I think it gets pretty convoluted when you have that conversation among the goats

where it's like, Mahomes just, you couldn't stop them tonight. I don't know. David couldn't do that against the Panthers. Well, yeah. And listen, we'll see what comes of it, you know, leading up to training camp and once the season starts. But if they drop the puck in opening night and he still hasn't signed, then it's just not ever going to quiet down.

Like, it will in pockets, but it's going to be such a massive story about projecting what could happen and how it could play out. All right, Dallas Braden in 15 minutes on the Blue Jays bullpen and how they figure this out between now and the end of September. Roleplay level of concern in about 40 minutes. Silver Drive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSNM app. All right, with the help of Healthy Planet,

TSN1050 is donating $10,000 to the TDSB's backpacks and school supplies drive. You can help support our local students too. A $25 donation provides one backpack for a student. And $30 total, ensures it includes. includes all of the essentials. Donations are being accepted now through the end of September. Head to TSN-1050.ca to donate today. Yes, less than a week today back in school, right? It's very exciting. We're finding out, you know, the teachers later this week. We don't have that information yet, but my nephews were here this morning or this afternoon. They've got the

right teachers with the friends in there. They're very excited. That's huge, man. That's so modern I didn't know anything before I went to school when I was a kid I had no idea my parents didn't know maybe it was available to them and they just never checked but I remember going to school and you had no idea who your teacher was no idea who was in your class you just had to line up and one teacher would stand there and yell out names and if you were in that name right if you were in that group that's that's your teacher that's where you're going I think we used to get something in the mail like a week before school is like you go to the mailbox and it tells you from whatever school you went to like

Oh, you're Mr. Strudwick's class. Like, yeah, I got Mr. Strudwick this year. We didn't have that. Maybe we did, and my parents didn't tell me, but... We had small schools, but listen, today was my son's grade seven intro. And we went to the school, he got it in there, and the principal spoke to us for an hour. And my recommendation is this. If you're in that group of adults, listen to what he says, because there's a Q&A period.

They asked the same question three or four times. Do we need indoor running shoes? No, he already answered that. I was looking back, I'm like, who's asking these questions back? They're like, I was losing it. So, I was like, am I the only person here? Like, listen to the question. I don't want to hear it.

And if not, go talk to the guy later. I couldn't believe it. I'm like, are you seven years old? So ignorant. I know. It's incredible. So ignorant. And I'm sure the principal or VP had to keep his composure, but you know he was

snapping internally. He wanted to absolutely blow a house good. He was so good. But just listen. Otherwise, don't come. Like, just, oh, man. Throwing the hand up. Sorry.

Yes, you in the back. I don't know. Maybe you cover this all right. That's always the best one. Yeah, he did. He probably did cover it. Yes. Pretty sure that happened.

All right, Dallas Braden role play level of concern coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN2. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fandul. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Learn the details of how they came to be.

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